Root and install recovery on Moto G Lollipop

Again after update to Lollipop 5.0.2, I had to root my Moto G. The procedure I followed is as below,

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for damages, data loss, boot loops or anything. You have been warned.

Update: Some people reported that they got bootloop if they flashed Philz touch CWM recovery after rooting with CF-auto root. If you are afraid, then first flash TWRP recovery or Stock recovery and then flash CF-auto root. Bootloop didn’t happen to me when tested on Stock recovery or TWRP. You can later re-flash Philz touch if you want.

Requirements:

1. Installed Motorola drivers.
2. Mfastboot and minimal ADB drivers from here.
3. CF-auto root from here. Scroll down for your phone model make and download the zip file. Yes, it is same as Kitkat 4.4.4 but works fine when extracted and flashed. Direct link for Moto G 1st gen XT1033 .
4. Philz touch CWM advanced, if you want to go back on it. Remember to search for Falcon or Falcon_gpe and then download the latest one. Again for Moto G XT1033

Procedure to root Moto G:

1. I am considering that Motorola drivers are already installed on your computer.
2. Extract the mfastboot zip file to a folder. For sake of simplicity, let’s say D: (D Drive).
3. Navigate to Start menu –> Run and type cmd and press enter. In Win7, you can type command at search option in Start menu and select Command prompt icon. Change the directory by typing this command and pressing enter at DOS,

cd d:\mfastboot-v2\

4. Switch off your phone and put your phone in bootloader mode. To do this, hold power button and volume down together for 3-4 seconds and then release. Don’t press any keys from phone now.
5. Connect USB cable to phone and to computer. If drivers are all ok then bootloader will show ‘USB connected’ message. To check from computer, type fastboot devices and hit enter at DOS prompt. The result will be something like below with Serial no.,

Moto G USB and drivers connection

This means that drivers are properly installed and phone is communicating with computer in bootloader mode. If not, then check that the drivers are installed properly or not. Make sure to restart after Motorola driver installation.

6. Now, extract the downloaded CF-auto root zip file and navigate to image folder inside it. Copy the .img recovery file from there and paste it inside “C:\mfastboot-v2\“. Rename it to something like ‘recovery.img‘. Now, type this command and press enter,

mfastboot boot recovery.img

Flashing CF-auto-root to root Moto G

Wait for sometime as the process is finished and phone reboots to home screen.

7. Download SuperSu from market and run it to check the root. It should not give any warning.

Voila! You are rooted.

Installing Philz Touch CWM Recovery:

1. Now copy the downloaded Philz touch recovery image (.img) file in the same folder D:\mfastboot-v2\. Make sure you only copy ‘.img‘ file. If you have downloaded zip recovery file then extract and copy the ‘.img‘ file. Rename the file to something short like ‘rec.img‘.
2. Put phone back into bootloader and connect the cable. When done, type the following command and press enter,

mfastboot flash recovery rec.img

The phone will be flashed with custom recovery and message will be something like this,

Flash Philz Touch Recovery after rooting Moto G

Now, press volume down and select the option ‘recovery‘ by pressing ‘volume up’. Make sure that you don’t press power button as it will shut down the phone.

Phone will boot in Philz touch recovery and screen may flicker. Don’t care about it. This is a bug for now.